


Mistaking Lois Lane

by Myth_Maker



Category: DC Animated Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, BAMF Tony Stark, Delusional Superman, Dominating!Superman, Implied Beginnings of SuperFamily Avengers, Justice Lords, M/M, Protective!Superman, Stuck in the DC Universe, Superfamily (Marvel), Superman is a God, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, hurt!Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-12 23:13:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7127264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myth_Maker/pseuds/Myth_Maker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I got a nuke coming in – it’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it.”<br/>“Stark. You know that’s a one-way trip.”<br/>He didn’t know anything; not after flying through the portal. But as the nuclear missile hit its mark and the explosion made his vision blur, he could’ve sworn he saw a man speeding toward him in the depths of space. A man in a white cape.<br/>And he did not look friendly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistaking Lois Lane

Pepper didn't answer her phone. Tony couldn't really blame her, not when the world was in chaos and she had Stark Industries to run, but his arms were numb with the suicidal stupidity of what he was about to do, and hey, usually he got a 'Good Boy' for that. 

At least he'd spoken to Steve one last time. Tony hadn't missed the way that the man's voice had changed when Tony told him the plan. 

"I've got a nuke coming in," he'd said, keeping his tone light as he spoke over the comm. "It's gonna blow any minute." 

Steve had taken a moment to respond. "Stark," he'd said shortly, his voice flat. "You know that's a one-way trip." _You know I can't save you._

Tony hadn't responded. He'd just flown in under the missile, yanked it up toward the sky, and taken aim. 

Steve hadn't tried to say anything else; he'd gone quiet -- they all had. Though, if he knew Steve Rogers, Tony figured the man had probably sent up a silent prayer as he watched Iron Man do the dumbest thing he'd ever done: save the world.

As Tony slammed into Stark Tower and skidded against the windows, he kept his eyes focused on the portal in the sky. Today wasn't about stopping a terrorist, or destroying a Stark weapon that'd gotten into the wrong hands; today was about keeping Steve safe. All the other details were meaningless in that moment. 

Skyrocketing through the portal, Tony felt a sense of calm wash over him. Maybe it was the fact that he'd just passed the point of no return, or the odd way that the pulsing blue hole reminded him of his own arc reactor. Either way, he didn't feel so scared, now. 

"Sir," Jarvis tried to say, but his voice quickly choked off into nothing, and the red displays fell away from the screen, leaving Tony completely and utterly alone. In the swirling mass of stars before him, he could just make out the ships still charging toward the portal -- toward him. Letting go of the missile, he kept his eyes wide as he fell backwards into the darkness, and watched it hit. 

Fire erupted in the middle of the mother ship, and all Tony could think was, _That's impossible._ Fire did not -- could not -- exist in the vacuum of space. With a hundred theorems and the difference between chemical reactions and nuclear fusion running through his head, Tony remained silent and blinked at the chain of explosions. 

Impossibe or not, he'd done it. He'd saved the day.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. He was still 'falling,' though it felt wrong to call it that. He was going too slow, though the undeniable pull at his back made him wonder if the universe he'd just flown into was trying to spit him back out. 'Floating,' he decided, was a better word for it. Floating along in the depths of space, waiting for the last of his oxygen to die out. 

Suddenly, the light shining through his eyelids swirled away, and Tony cracked them open to see what was happening. 

The ships were burned out, with debris surrounding them like a cloud as they hung there in place, motionless. And yet, there was something among the wreckage that was moving against the destruction. 

It didn't take Tony very long to realize that it was coming his way. 

Blinking his eyes open properly, he frowned at the figure. It looked humanoid -- a man -- and for a moment, hope blossomed in Tony's chest as he recognized the swish of a cape. Only, as the figure sped closer, Tony realized that this man did not fly with a hammer, and his jet black hair looked nothing like Thor's golden locks. 

Tony, panicking, silently scrambled for an escape. "Jarvis," he croaked, throwing his arms behind him to try and gain some momentum back toward the portal. But the AI did not respond, and Tony could only watch as the figure stopped just a few inches away. He was definitely a man; his face grim with blue eyes icy in their glare while he mouth drew together into a tight, white line. Tony gave the stranger a twisted smirk, and did the only thing he could do. 

He passed out.

# ~*~

It was cold.

"What...?" Tony said, frowning as he sat up. He was laying flat on the ground in his work clothes, with grease smeared up and down his arms. Had he been working? 

"It's a one-way trip."

Tony jerked his head up at the voice. Steve was standing over him, unashamed in the Iron Man pajamas that Tony had bought him as a joke last Christmas. 

"S-Steve?" Tony huffed a laugh in disbelief. He couldn't describe the relief that he felt at seeing him; like he hadn't expected to for a long, long time. "Steve," Tony stood up, reaching for him. 

But Steve took a step back, his hands closed into fists at his sides. "One-way," he said again.

"Steve...?" Tony frowned. He made to move forward, but Steve fixed him with a look.

"Goodbye, Tony," Steve said wistfully.

Tony could hear his heartbeat in his ears. "Steve--"

But his heart was growing louder, morphing into a scream. Tony fell to his knees, and slapped his hands over his ears. Steve only looked at him pityingly, and disappeared. Tony wanted to yell after him -- to call his name and demand that he come back. But he couldn't, not with his chest burning like it was. 

Running out of air, Tony half-sobbed, and realized with a start that he was the one screaming. 

"Whoa!"

Tony bolted upright, steadying himself with his hands as he jerked his head to look around the room. Two men were standing at his side, looking down at him with blank faces.

A bed. 

He was in a bed.

"Calm down," one of the men murmured. He was bald with dark skin, and looked over Tony with warm, kind eyes. Tony surprised himself when the man touched his arm and he flinched. 

"Where am I?" he asked. His voice sounded raw, even to his own ears, and he reluctantly reclined against the pillows at his back. He glanced at the other man, but avoided his blue eyes. "Is this one of my hospitals?"

The bald man frowned, but worked to keep a straight face. "We found you outside," he said slowly, motioning behind Tony. Not waiting to be told twice, Tony craned his neck and looked over his shoulder, only to find himself staring out a window full of the brightest stars he'd ever seen. 

They were in space. 

Just like that, it all came flying back: the Avengers, the invasion, the nuke, _the portal._ And, looking at the men now, Tony realized that he recognized one of them. 

"You," Tony pointed at the muscular man dressed in black, still avoiding his glowing blue gaze. A white cape was draped over his shoulders, and a red insignia stood out on his chest. "You were out there," Tony said. He was sure.

Glancing at his associate, the man nodded once. "Yes," he said, and Tony was surprised by his accent. He was American. "I was investigating after we received an alert about some activity in the area, but by the time I got there--"

"You aren't with them?" Tony cut him off, his face carefully schooled into a neutral mask as he tried to figure out just who he was dealing with. "You weren't allies?"

"We don't even know who 'they' are," the other man spoke up. "When Superman arrived--"

"Superman?" Tony repeated with a snort. That was just about the worst superhero name he'd ever heard, and he knew Ant Man. 

Apparently, the bald man knew an insult when he heard one, and he scowled, moving forward to say something. But the blue-eyed man -- no, the 'super man' -- held out an arm, and stopped him. "Yes," he said gently. "And what do they call you?"

Tony wasn't stupid; he'd noticed the moment he woke up that the usual weight of his Iron Man suit was gone. The men had stripped him of it, and left him in the designer jeans and burned Black Sabbath shirt that he'd been fighting in underneath the armor. In short, Tony was defenseless, and if these two stooges were anything like SHIELD agents, then they'd probably already drawn some blood and fingerprinted him while he was asleep. Not that he cared -- he'd never been one to hide his identity, and he wasn't about to start now. 

Leveling a look at Superman, Tony said (with all the arrogance that he could muster), "I'm Tony Stark, _Supes._ Or Iron Man -- you know, whichever you'd prefer." Or heard of, hopefully.

"Iron Man," the bald man said slowly, like he was tasting the information on his tongue. Tony was still trying to place his accent -- English wasn't his first language, that was for sure. "Is that why you were equipped in a suit of iron?" the man asked plainly.

Tony deadpanned. "Okay," he said stiffly. "Now you're just being insulting. My suit is much more than a hunk of metal, thank you very much."

The two men shared a puzzled look, but then Superman said, "J'onn, would you mind retrieving his...suit? Perhaps he can shed some light on it."

"Of course," J'onn replied with a small incline of his head. Tony clenched his jaw, unsettled by how much it reminded him of a bow. 

The moment he was out the door, Superman sighed. It was like the release of air made his whole body sag, and the intimidating stance he'd been holding crumbled away. "I apologize," he said, meeting Tony's eyes with a boyish grin. 

Well, Tony hadn't been expecting that, and in his line of work, that usually meant it wasn't real. "Sure," he said with a shrug. "That's why you're going to tell me that I'm free to go."

Superman's grin seemed to falter for a moment, but then he took a seat on the edge of Tony's bed and folded his hands in his lap. It looked like a pose that Tony had seen Steve take many times when they were about to have a talk about sleeping or eating properly, and suddenly Tony didn't care if his back was straight or his shoulders were squared. He slouched, and dropped his miserable brown eyes down to look at his bare hands. He'd left Steve's ring in the bathroom that morning, and there wasn't even a tan line to hold its place. 

Superman seemed to take his body language as something else entirely, and Tony almost jumped as the man placed a rough hand over his. "As soon as the formalities are done here, I'll take you home."

"What?" Tony blurted, lifting his eyes to meet Superman's bright blue ones. "Really? You can?"

Superman broke out into a smile. "Of course," he said, and Tony beamed right back. Fuck if he cared if this guy got off on the superhero treatment, so long as it got him out of this situation. Tony opened his mouth to ask any of the thousand questions suddenly whirling around his head, and missed the way that Superman raised his hand. He felt when it cupped the back of his neck through, and froze when he felt Superman's lips brush against his cheek in a kiss.

"Uh," Tony said, all good feelings gone as the man didn't stand back up, but rather leaned his forehead against his. 

"Don't worry," Superman said, his eyes twinkling in a promise as he swiped a finger over Tony's bottom lip. "I'll keep you safe this time."

**Author's Note:**

> An idea I had after a fandom afternoon full of Super Family/Justice Lords/Louis Lane's stupid ideas versus Tony Stark's stupid ideas. Basically, this story is for anyone who wants to see Tony thrust into a submissive role, and Clark acting like the big bad dictator some of us* want to see more of. 
> 
> Some=me.


End file.
